Law Students

Volunteer Opportunities for Law Students

EBSC began our Asylum Program at the Sanctuary in 1992, working in conjunction with the San Francisco Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and a group of committed immigration attorneys who provided services pro bono or for a very low fee. In 1994, a law student at Boalt Hall, with whom we had previously worked when he was at Proyecto Libertad on the Texas border, asked if he and other interested law students could participate in the program. They formed CARC (at that time the Central American Refugee Committee; when we began representing clients from many other countries in the world they changed the name to the California Asylum Representation Clinic; it’s awkward but the same acronym).

The program’s success surpassed anyone’s expectations. That first year our office filed 14 cases, 9 of which were represented by CARC students. Because the program has been so successful and because we do not charge for our services we have become overwhelmed with applicants. Fortunately, CARC has grown through the years. The past two years we filed more than 200 cases each year; CARC students represented 30 each of those years. This year, there are 92 CARCkies representing 50 cases so far, plus more than a dozen student mentors.

EBSC welcomes second year and beyond law students from the Bay Area to volunteer during their semester. Students are encouraged to take on two or three cases a semester at a maximum. Students make their own schedules and have constant access to both Michael Smith and Kaveena Singh.

Semester volunteer opportunities are generally limited to one aspect of immigration law. Students can choose to take on affirmative asylum cases or U-visa cases. At this time, EBSC has not established formal externships with any school; however, we welcome all students to inquire with their school’s administration to determine whether or not they will be able to extern at EBSC.

For more information about semester internships and volunteer opportunities, please email Kaveena Singh.

Summer Internships Available to All Law Students

EBSC welcomes law students from all over the country during the summer. Last summer we hosted students from Georgetown, University of California Irvine School of Law, University of California Hastings School of Law, and the University of San Francisco School of Law. EBSC is a low pressure, high experience summer internship. Students are asked to volunteer at least 30 hours a week during the summer; however, you set your own hours.

Unlike most other summer internships, our law students work directly with our clients. They learn the client’s history, create a plan to meet the client’s goals, and represent the client before the Department of Homeland Security, Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services. All of this is done under the supervision of our staff attorney, Kaveena Singh.

Most law students will work in our Affirmative Asylum Program, however, we encourage our summer interns to take on a U-Visa, Permanent Residency, and Naturalization case so that they can “see the seashore” of Immigration Law. If students find that they prefer these areas of Immigration Law then we welcome them to focus on these subjects for the rest of the summer.

EBSC summer interns are not paid; however, most of our summer interns are able to secure funding from their school’s Public Interest Law Foundation.

For more information about Summer Internships, please email Kaveena Singh.

Have you been an EBSC law student intern in the past? Tell the world about your experience. Email EBSC.